14 December 2011

As a dancer myself, for me Edgar Degas' ballet dancers are the epitome of beauty. I love the soft, textured finish of his work, the exaggerated shadows, strong lines and unexpected colours that all add to the interest and depth of his art. Very few other artists are able to create such a profound effect with their work; Degas not only capturing the beautiful shapes and movements of the dancers, but also the mood- extremely important in art.

I don't normally like to share my own art work, but I thought I'd just post two of my own interpretations of Degas' work- the first drawn recently, and the latter back when I was just 12. I love working with pastels and charcoal; tones and shadows can be captured so perfectly and when smudged they hold so much expression within their texture.

11 December 2011

The day we put our christmas tree up is one of my favourite days- tacky christmas anthems blaring away in the background as the multiple boxes full with decorations are dusted off and their contents rediscovered. I love finding all the odd, pretty little angels and suchlike that have been acquired over the years or passed down through the family, and spreading 'angel hair' over the lights so that it looks all shimmery and magical.

Lights, that's another thing I love about christmas. I bought a set of red ones in the 99p shop the other day for my beautiful mini black tree in my room; they create an amazing fiery glow and just make me so happy. Christmas really does make me so happy. Just 14 more sleeps!

This is what I wore to my friend's party the other night. I think this jacket is absolutely gorgeous; the texture is so beautifully soft and velvety, and the colour so breathtakingly deep. It sort of reminds me of when you look up into the sky in the summer and you feel like you're looking right up into space because its so dark and goes on forever.

Night sky, that's what this outfit seems a bit like to me. With the bright, rich gold penetrating the blue like stars. I love stars.

I made this skirt over the past week, I have really wanted a simply velvet skirt for ages but anything I find seems to be extortionately over-priced and not quite right. I went to buy fabric, and fell in love with the gold because of all the different shades that come out in the light- simply magical. Like Christmas (I am ridiculously excited; post to come!)

I didn't think the two velvets would work together, but I actually think it looks kind of interesting with the very different colours, broken up by the intricacy of the beaded top and the geometric pattern on the tights.

30 November 2011

I wear this cape a lot, I love the colour and the shape, but it's never really occured to me to put it with such a shiny shirt before. I'm not really sure if I like it, I suppose it's the massive contrast between the natural earthy tones and the extremely shiny space-ace silver that makes them look quite interesting together...This petticoat I wear a lot just to add length to long shirts usually, I love the pale pink/gold tones and the intricate detail; subtle yet still very pretty.

I'm also wearing (with my ballet socks from when I was goodness knows how tiny) my new Kurt Keiger suede wedges that I am absolutely IN LOVE with; I've been after a pair of wedges nice simple wedges for ages and I love the Chelsea boot elastic detail and the height they give me... definitely something I could get used to! I don't have a picture of them personally; but I found this on the internet to give you a closer look:

27 November 2011

Last night I went to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden with my family, to see Manon. It was absolutely spectacular, not a traditional Ballet but equally as captivating and breathtaking; I absolutely adore ballet and just let myself get lost in the magic of it all. The music was as always, beautiful and Kenneth Macmillan's choreography more than did it justice. I especially love watching men dance, the just seem to be so powerful and strong and passionate, I'm determined that one day I'm going to fall in love with the perfect dancer.

During the intervals I was having a little too much fun with shutter lag and waving my camera around in the air, but I think the result is actually quite pretty so I'm going to post a few of the pictures anyway.

20 November 2011

All day today has been weirdly foggy. It's like a magical mist that has shrouded everything, but you can never quite catch up with it because as soon as you get anywhere near it, it just floats away. Kind of beautiful really, if you forget the bitter cold that has come with it.

I do really love this time of year; Christmas is coming (35 days, as my brother keeps kindly reminding me!) and seems to have taken over absolutely everywhere. Also, we made the Christmas cake today, with the infamous home-compiled Christmas music blaring in the background I felt excited for the first time. I try to resist getting into the spirit until December has actually started- but with all this going on around me, it was too tempting to hold off.

I even felt like dressing Christmassy; pulling out my dad's red paisley shirt. I normally avoid red; it does not suit me in the slightest and I prefer to wear more subtle colours, but also having recently discovered this gorgeous green plaid skirt, it was sort of necessary to wear the classic colour combination of red and green. I have not taken off the brown wooly socks (Topshop sale at £3) since autumn started; they remind me so much of all the browns around at the moment, and the same for the brogues. I tied the scarf round my waist just because I wanted a bow in there somewhere!

16 November 2011

I discovered this skirt the other day, along with a huge pile of gorgeous clothes that used to belong to my mum's sister in the 70s. I had huge doubts about the fit, but was literally over the moon when it fit! I adore suede at the moment (just bought some Kurt Geiger suede wedges ahhh) so it's literally my favourite thing!

Another new thing is the necklace; made out of a picture that belonged to my grandmother, a wooden block and leather strap. I love the mint green/aqua colours and the chunkiness of it. A lot of her religious items have been passed on to me, and they're all wonderful little treasures.

30 October 2011

I've been wearing quite a lot of black recently. I'm not really sure why, possibly the imposing winter and changing weather that means it now gets dark at stupid-o'clock getting me in the mood. Anyway, I've recently bought two beautiful new black items perfect for the winter.

The first was in Norfolk, Aylsham I believe, in a charity shop that by some magic I managed to drag my whole family into. It's a black velvet blazer with pink rose embellishments and silver dots scattered across. I really needed a lightweight jacket so when I spotted it, for just £6, I couldn't resist. I also have a pink floaty skirt with beading along the rim that would match beautifully with it, but this seems to wandered off somewhere in the unpacking process..

The second is something I discovered during my afternoon at Cancer Research on Saturday; which I actually enjoyed so much. I was tidying the rails and I noticed it; a sheer black collared shirt with scalloped edge and swirly flowery detail. I've been hankering after something sheer and black for ages, and with a collar I knew at once it was perfect. (I adore collars, as you can probably tell from my Lookbook)

I'll post some pictures of my wearing them as soon as I find my pink skirt, and also on Lookbook.

About me

I love special pretty things with a story. Intriguing textures and fabrics excite me. One day I'm going to travel the world and discover cultures beyond the grey London suburbs. When I die, look up into the sky and you'll see me dancing in the clouds with the fairies.